THREAD

1)
#Iran's echo chamber at work

@JZarif describes Qassem Soleimani as a "national hero" who defeated ISIS

Iran apologists/lobbyists begin

THREAD

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One of #Iran’s “diplomats,” Assadollah Assadi, is awaiting a ruling from a Belgian court on his role in a bomb plot targeting an opposition rally in June 2018.

@eu_eeas should not give in to pressure from Tehran & impose justice as is

THREAD

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One year ago today, the U.S. military took out #Iran’s IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani, the world’s No. 1 terrorist.

Don't listen to MSM. He was a ruthless killer loathed by people in Iran & across the Mid-East.

Please watch to the

2)
Iraqis dancing in the streets following news that Soleimani is no

3)
Poster of #Iran's terrorist-in-chief Qassem Soleimani being torn down in Gaza just

4)
A family in #Iran danced in their home after hearing about the “terrorist Soleimani's” death while chanting “Death to the Dictator,” in reference to

5)
Persian notes from inside Iran:
"We had a really joyous day after a very long time"
"Thank you, dear Trump"
"Long live Trump"
"Hats off to you, President Trump - From the people of Iran"

Credit: @IranNW

#BREAKING
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Al-Qaeda has a new home base. It is the Islamic Republic of #Iran. We ignore this Iran/al-Qaeda nexus at our own peril.

Al-Qaeda has had a relationship with Iran for nearly three decades.

THREAD

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This has been making a lot of noise among #Iran’s netizens.

Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahder said in a recent interview that in 2006 Qassem Soleimani gave them $22 million in cash.

This is how the regime spends the Iranian people’s

2)
Why is this important?
The West may further appease Iran’s regime & the mullahs are demanding the U.S. lift sanctions in order to gain access to billions of dollars.

Reminder:
Iran Spends $16 Billion Annually to Support Terrorists and Rogue

3)
"As long as Iran has money, that means we here have money, too," said Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Obama's 2015 Iran nuclear deal provided $150 billion in credit & $1.8 billion in cash for Tehran's

4)
Feb. 16, 2020
Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhaleh

Qassem Soleimani personally supervised the transfer of weapons, missiles & technology into Gaza.

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Pro-Iran Lebanese political analyst Anis Al-Naqqash

#Iran armed [Hamas & Islamic Jihad] & provided tech assistance to the Houthis in

EFCC Arraigns Man over N6.2m Forex Deal in Uyo

The Uyo Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Monday, January 25, 2021 arraigned one Inibehe Ndarake Eden before Justice F. O. Riman of the Federal High Court sitting Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

He was arraigned on a one-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N6,200,000.00 (six million, two hundred thousand naira).

The defendant allegedly obtained the said sum from one Inime Marcus Umanah sometime in July 2017, on the pretext that he will invest it for him in forex trading.

Umanah, according to his petition dated May 17, 2019 alleged that he agreed to invest the money because of the profit sharing formula of 80% and 20% for investor and trader respectively...

...and that he will also be getting 30% of the invested capital monthly, through his trading system, Eden System-FX.

NEW SCOOP from @zachsdorfman: China's Ministry of State Security has demanded that private Chinese companies, including Baidu and Alibaba, help them process stolen U.S. data, such as from the OPM hack, U.S. intelligence officials

Zach writes, "In what amounts to intelligence tasking, China’s spy services order private Chinese companies with big-data analytics capabilities to process massive sets of information that have intelligence value, according to current and former officials."

“Just imagine on any given day, if NSA and CIA are collecting information, say, on the [Chinese military], and we could bring back seven, eight, 10, 15 petabytes of data, give it to Google or Amazon or Microsoft, and say, ‘Hey, we want all these analytics," said one official.

It's hard to overestimate the significance of this intelligence assessment.

There has been speculation that Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent might have ties to China's security state. In fact, they work directly with them and for them—because they have to. According to US intel.

If you have been enjoying this series of scoops from @zachsdorfman, also take some time in your day to appreciate the skill and dedication that FP editor @BeijingPalmer has put into them.

THREAD.

In analysing the Afghan political spectrum something becomes obvious: Kabul's base is far more diverse than the Taliban's. For simplicity's sake, I'll count stronger opposition toward the Taliban than Kabul as 'pro Kabul'.

Let's assess these generally. Exceptions apply.

A diverse base isn't necessarily, however, a good thing. Appealing to everyone ensures you appeal to no one, or that your support base is so fractured that it actually becomes a liability. Think of Clinton losing the Democrat majority in Congress being a blessing in disguise.

Some pro-Kabul groupings:

1) ethnonationalists of all ethnicities. Whilst the non-Pashtuns amongst them aren't pro-Ghani, they're pro-Kabul as an institution; they see it as far more representative and amenable to their interests than the Taliban.

Some Pashtun nationalists do support the Taliban (majority Pashtun) but these are a minority. The biggest blemishes on the Taliban's Pashtun credentials:

a) The Taliban/Pakistan relationship
b) their overt Islam, which many Pashtun nationalists are hostile toward.

2) The enlightened 'roshan-fikr' demographic

Liberals/seculars. Not much intro needed: progress, freedom, spectacular gains of the last 19 years, women's rights et cetera. You generally notice quite an anti-Islam, wholesale adoption of War on Terror rhetoric in their rationale.

Hilarious Rush Limbaugh moment from his 2009 CPAC address -->